"We already knew about his enormous talent in 2010, but he was still young then and still had to mature.

"In these past three to four years, he's grown a great deal and now he's the captain, assuming the responsibility that brings with it. For that reason, this could be his World Cup."

Zanetti believes Messi is benefiting from being part of a star-studded attack, which makes it hard for opposition defenders to focus on stopping only him.

"Our opponents always tighten things up against us and obviously we've got to find a way of penetrating their bunker," he said. "Messi and [Angel] Di Maria are used to coming from deeper, where they manage to find more gaps."

Zanetti backed Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella over his decision to leave out Carlos Tevez despite public calls for his inclusion.

"Nobody denies how good Carlos is, and he's had a fantastic season -- but if you were going to include him, that would have meant leaving out somebody who had done just as well," he explained.